Cognitive Behaviour Therapy in the Management of Eating Disorder among Female Undergraduates of Obafemi Awolowo University Ile-Ife

Abstract

The study established the efficacy of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy (CBT) in the treatment of eating  disorders. The prevalence level of eating disorder among the population was 17.1%. Thirty (30) participants were randomly selected from a pool of 171 respondents classified as highly at risk for eating disorders. Fifteen (15) of the participants were randomly assigned to the experimental and fifteen (15) to the control groups. The participants were exposed to seven sessions of Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. The results indicated that the experimental group (M = 65.20, SD = 5.97) had a statistically significant higher mean scores at post- test than the control group (M= 39.20, SD = 3.38; t = 14.68, p < .05). The  participants in the experimental group self-reported significantly more severe symptoms of  eating disorder at pretest (M= 65.20, SD = 5.97) had the statistically higher eating disorder scores than the experimental group at post-test (M= 8.13, SD = 4.56; t = 2.17, p < .05). The modified Cognitive Behaviour Therapy employed in the study may be helpful in reversing this trend.

Keywords: Eating disorders, Anorexia nervosa, Bulimia nervosa, Obesity, Cognitive Behaviour therapy